


Mnemosyne

by thegirlwiththemouseyhair



Category: The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Mythology References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 03:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18402536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwiththemouseyhair/pseuds/thegirlwiththemouseyhair
Summary: “One had ancestors in literature as well, nearer perhaps in type and temperament…”





	Mnemosyne

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reine_des_corbeaux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reine_des_corbeaux/gifts).



Sometimes, in the sweet red sleep of opium, Dorian remembers the slope of a mountain. The air is heady and resinous with a scent of pine. A cool wind blows, while firs and cedars chase each other toward a valley pool. 

A girl trails after Dorian. She is beautiful, lily-white with dark hair that flows like water down her back. He shoved her away without pity. He remembers stamping his feet in rage while she knelt crying before him. She dwindled after that, until she could neither weep nor curse him, could only echo the words and the poetry of others. She might be Sibyl Vane, dying in a dusty dressing room at an East End theatre, or she might be a nymph from Mount Cithaeron. It’s all the same, in the sweep of time.

There was a man, too—grave, but ruggedly handsome. He’d  longed for Dorian, like the girl had. He would have worshiped each blade of grass Dorian stepped on while hunting, if Dorian had let him. He didn't. Eventually Dorian sent him away with a knife, or was it a sword he presented to Aminias? To Aminias, his suitor, or to poor Basil… He’d felt nothing but contempt as his would-be lover bled to death. Now, his ghost haunts Dorian. It looms over the clear pool, staining his reflection and the water red with blood. Sometimes, it drives Dorian to hot, reeking dens like this, where he’ll wake sick and parched with thirst, to sift the dreams or memories in his brain. 

**Author's Note:**

> Breaking news: person finds practical use for classics minor; more at eight. Based on a theory I saw on someone's blog, which was actually about the show Penny Dreadful's take on Dorian, and posited that he might actually be the mythological Narcissus. 'Mnemosyne' is the classical Greek goddess of memory. While I know you didn't specifically ask for Sibyl, I could not resist equating her with Echo and hope you don't mind. Thanks for the great prompts, which I've been meaning to write for since actual Yuletide season.


End file.
